The Heads up Slow Player

When you see a turtle avatar, a sloth, a Ford Pinto, or anything else kind of slow as someone avatar, you can almost be assured that the player is a slow poker player. Ninja’s count too, they’re just too egotistical and think they’re being sneaky when in reality they’re just slow playing as well.

In this article we’re going to delve into this player’s mind of this kind of player, and show you how to beat him.

The first thing you need to understand is that this guy is passive-aggressive. A passive player alone will not be calling your pot sized bets Heads-Up (HU). They may call a thin continuation bet, but if you get too much money involved, they usually fold like a house of cards, pun intended. The passive aggressive player, or trapster, like to call, giving off the impression of a calling station, but they become very dangerous on the turn, and deadly on the river if you’re playing standard TAG ABC poker.

See, this kind of play style is very high variance. The ones who are good at it know this; they have more “gamble” in them, and know they are risking a lot, but have a lot to get in return when they are successful. However, in the long run, it’s usually not a profitable strategy unless they can control their bankroll after a hot run and cash out. Most of them can’t, and most of them aren’t aware of the game on that kind of level anyway. The majority of trapsters out there have a distinct pattern of slowplaying every hand, even if it’s not the stone cold nuts.

So against the slow poker player, you do need to ramp up the aggression early, since they do take big risks. But you have to control the aggression, and be weary of their snap check-calls to your raises, be aware of the board, and beware the river checkraise. I know it sounds complicated at first, but once you get a feel for the player, they are easy to beat, if you just tighten up a little in HU, and focus the aggression rather than spewing it.

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